solar battery charger

[Badger]

I have one of these and was thinking about using it on tour to keep camera batteries charged.  Anyone ever use one of these?

[sam21fire]

Yeah, I used one on a 14-day trip last summer.  The model I've got is about 5"x6"x2", the solar cells are on the lid, and it will charge most battery sizes although I only used AA's (also for my camera).  It worked pretty well for me; I kept it strapped to my rear rack while on the road and set it wherever when I was in camp.  The only problem I had was that occasionally the batteries would bounce out of the electrical contacts.  Simple solution was a small piece of cloth or foam rubber to keep the batteries in place.

Good Luck
Sam

[wanderingwheel]

I tried one a few years ago for flashlight and radio batteries, but it was more hassle then it was worth.  Even fully charged, the batteries had very little life and took longer and longer to recharge.  In the end, I ditched the flashlight, radio, and battery charger altogether.

[FredHiltz]

Even fully charged, the batteries had very little life and took longer and longer to recharge.

A good point, WW. NiCad and NiMH cells do not take well to the trickle charging that we get from a solar charger. They work, but not to full capacity. The high-current pulse chargers, for example the ones from http://www.nimhbattery.com are smaller and lighter than solar chargers. Never more than six days between wall outlets, I carry three sets of AA cells and one of those chargers.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com explains why trickle charging does not work well, along with more than you probably want to know about rechargeable batteries.

Fred

[jnorth]

i've had good luck with a brunton solarport and my canon s100 elph's mAH NB-1LH rechargeable battery. i used the canon dc adapter and female coupler from the brunton.

This message was edited by jnorth on 1-25-06 @ 5:28 PM